


Home Away From Home

by ClaireKat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Keith (Voltron), Galra Keith, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, One Shot, alien keith, day1, space prompt, voltronweek, voltronweek2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 20:26:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7728607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireKat/pseuds/ClaireKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith finds himself distracted by the beauty of the stars in the night sky, as well as an unknown force that has an mysterious hold on him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home Away From Home

**Author's Note:**

> Posting the prompts I already have finished for Voltron Week a little early on here because I'm going to be busy the next couple of days. This is short fic for the day 1 prompt: Space! I got inspired halfway through and the monologue of this piece got really reflective, and of course its influenced by Keith and his speculated alien origins...how could I resist? I hope you all enjoy!

The midnight sky was clear and vast, unimpeded by cloud cover or foliage of any kind considering the isolated desert locale. Its inky darkness was decorated by pinpricks of celestial light, all of which paled in comparison to the stunning illumination of the waxing moon. Its gentle glow washed the sandy landscape white, bathing the rolling hills and sloped valleys in its enveloping rays. A lone figure could be seen whizzing across this barren desert, the glow from the contraption he was mounted on standing out amidst the blankness that surrounded him. His was a machine that would have made even the most experienced connoisseurs of space travel do a double take. Even he was unsure of its true origins.

A cool breeze generated by his own momentum wrapped around him, tousling his hair and clothing as he sailed across the sand, tossing up trails of upended grains in his wake. While the direction of his trek might have appeared pointless to many, Keith maneuvered effortlessly across the vast, barren landscape he had grown accustomed to calling home. The hum of his hoverbike blended with the wind’s whining howl, a harmony that he also recognized with familiarity. He was following his usual route back to his safe house after an evening of gathering more supplies, coasting across the rolling dunes with a natural deftness.  He couldn’t help taking a few chances to bound off of what minimal peaks crested the numerous sandy mounds, blowing up plenty of the shifty substance with each landing.

Never having anywhere to be nor anyone to answer to other than himself, Keith found both comfort and loneliness in his isolated existence since fleeing the Garrison. Well, fleeing of sorts, considering he had been explicitly expelled upon the recording of a numerous list of his regulation breaking offenses. Things had seemed to spin wildly out of control, sinking lower and lower ever since the controversial news surrounding the failed mission to the distant moon known as Kerberos.

Keith shook such thoughts from his head quickly, deciding that, since he didn’t have to be home at a specific time, he would stop to enjoy the unusually bright and beautiful sky that hung magnificently over his head this evening. He brought his hoverbike to a gentle stop by a lake he had discovered on one of his first excursions to chart this largely uninhabited terrain. It was hidden behind walls of sand that all looked the same, difficult to locate if one wasn’t familiar with the territory, no doubt carved out by the elements just as nature had intended. The scene reflected in the water’s glassy surface was as equally stunning as the sky above, considering that the two scenes were predictably parallel.

“Looks like another beautiful night…” Keith spoke to himself, plopping down by the water's edge as he gazed into the star sprinkled pool. He tucked his knees under his chin as his eyes flickered between examining the surface of the water and the projection of the sky.

 Space. An infinite frontier. To some its vastness can appear suffocating, and to others it is oppressively overwhelming. It can be read about, observed within a plethora of movies and documentaries, and even examined in the existing research, theories, and assorted other bits of information recorded on it. But nothing really compares to being _out in it_ , all the time, floating through the seamless cosmos and treating trips between various galactic clusters like any other road trip.

Keith knew that the Galaxy Garrison existed to train people like him to face the great unknown and delve into the deep recesses of space. At least, that’s what their courses and training regimen seemed to reflect. Those were the missions that were practiced in the simulations, the scenarios and situations that they were drilled with over and over again until they even started to dream about them. It was implied that these were the kind of simple and routine missions that an elite few would be chosen to accompany the seasoned commanders and pilots on.

Keith was wiser than all of that, though, or perhaps he was just more nosy. He hadn’t spent his time in the Garrison accepting every word they tossed at him as truth, and he certainly wasn’t content to take their explanations at face value. In the end his skepticism had gotten him expelled and exiled, and he’d made a new home in the shack he was lucky to find construction materials for. That was alright, though; he hadn’t left that enigmatic enterprise of the Galaxy Garrison empty handed. He made sure to swipe a few of the confidential files that had caught his eye in the midst of one of his nighttime snooping escapades, and as far as he knew no one was yet the wiser. At least, if they were, they still hadn’t managed to find him out here.

He briefly pondered the idea that perhaps he had left too early. Maybe if he had been more careful he would have been able to gather even more intel to aid in the research he was conducting for personal gain. An ache stung in his chest as he recalled all that had transpired at the Garrison, and some of the major events that had made him regret ever getting involved with the organization in the first place. There were some things that just couldn’t be replaced, things that he had gained and lost all within the span of his internment. But that was also the reason he found himself unable to completely leave this area behind. There was still a chance, a hope that he couldn’t forsake, that one day some things might actually return.

The Garrison and their faulty reports had given him that hope. In all honesty, the academy hadn’t been very good at anything but providing him with the questionable and applicable intel that he had acquired from its depths. Outside of this, he hadn’t learned much that helped him better himself or any sort of useful addition to his existing skillset. The proficiency he exhibited in both combat and piloting, from the start, were of a caliber that set him apart from the rest of the rookies and inherently caught the eyes of the administration. He could only recall acquiring and honing these abilities naturally, although he momentarily considered the possibility that he might have been born with a propensity towards physical prowess. While the merit in such abilities was not lost on them, the Garrison officers were also not easily blinded to the fact that, coupled with Keith’s inquisitive and rebellious spirit, he could turn out to be more trouble than he was worth.

He has sensed trouble from the start, but had agreed to play the game at least until he could leave with some sort of information he could use. He wanted to know the secrets of the universe, to discover the kinds of things that were hidden behind the firewalls and metallic locks that littered the dense government facility. But he also wanted an answer to the mystery of the force that seemed to pull him towards the starry sky he gazed into now. There was something about this place that had never truly felt like home; perhaps this feeling was simply cultivated by being bounced around to multiple foster homes, or the loneliness he had come to embrace as a result of his typically ineffective social skills.

But more than that, something had called him away from civilization. A conviction, heavy in his chest and sharp in his soul, plagued him with a desire for something that was still unreachable. He wasn’t sure if it was a location, a person perhaps, or something more intangible, but there was no denying that some greater force was acting on Keith’s subconscious, and it was determined to make things difficult for him until he had solved its riddle.

He heaved a lackluster sigh, wondering when he was finally going to find some answers to any of the questions about his life. Why had he been orphaned at such a young age, why was it so hard for him to get along with others, why was it so hard for him to understand so many things about this planet when it was supposed to be his home? He trailed a couple of his fingertips across the water’s surface, disrupting its stillness with ripples that distorted the perfect image of space cast upon it. It was an unsettling, perplexing sight, and Keith carefully observed the way the cosmos stretched and waned in response to his featherlight touch.

He rose to his feet and waded into the water a bit, stepping onto the nearest stony surface that jutted out from within the water’s imperceptible depths. More rock formations created a makeshift line of rocks, gradually increasing in width and compounding shapes, and Keith hopped from one to the next until he stood atop the tallest one that he could reach without having to defer to the art of scaling it. He laid down against its uneven surface, settling his head against a raised section that doubled nicely as a pillow, if one considered hard surfaces decorated with the occasional sharp edge to still be deserving of such a classification.

As his eyes refocused on the swirling nebulae above, he reexamined the fact that he had joined the Garrison with the hope that he would find some answers as to what it was about space that was always calling to him. There was even a slim chance that he would one day gain the privilege to confront this desire head on. Now he was farther from his goal than ever before, and he felt nowhere nearer to unlocking any of the answers he wanted; information he was starting to feel he _needed_. The maps and few reports that he had collected from the Garrison before his departure provided enough data to start building some sort of picture of where he should start looking, but again, it was all just conjecture. Every answer he thought he had only turned out to be another clue, another edge piece to the puzzle that he was desperate to glimpse the grand scheme of.  

He was tired, and he was alone. He yearned for someone who could understand, someone who might help him along this journey, or at least exist beside him so that he wouldn’t have to continue enduring these endless days alone. He was closer than he had ever been to finding some semblance of concrete evidence, though, and despite his fatigue he knew he couldn’t let his emotions get the best of him. Both his regard for his personal interests and the nagging, toneless voice within him would run him into the ground before they let him rest. He was content to acquiesce himself to these invisible forces, at least with the understanding that one day, his dead ends would finally give way to grand treasures that just required a little more finesse to uncover.

Keith’s eyes focused on the cosmic canvas above, and he searched the interminable sky with an inkling of hope and a yearning for some sort of sign. A few lone stars arched across the sky, their trails leaving a radiant impression before they blinked into nonexistence. Contemplation under a sky like this felt pretentious and mildly like a waste of time, but Keith couldn’t bring himself to rise. He was entranced by the cosmos, momentarily delirious and desperate for something or someone to reach out to him, to make things clear. He had lost so much, some of the only things he had ever cared about in this life…now he wasn’t even sure what he was fighting for.

He closed his eyes and attempted to silence his raucous thoughts, opening them again and just taking in the beauty of the night sky. It was a perfect night for stargazing, temperate weather setting the mood with no one trying to track him down, and himself beholden to no curfew. It was hard for Keith to ever take time for himself, to just appreciate how far he had come despite the many obstacles in his path, and the waves of disbelief and denouncement that he had met with time and time again. Now, he was discovering the truth for himself. And who knows, perhaps his true home really did exist somewhere, out there, on some distant planet in space. The thought brought an unexpected warmth to his chest. Only time was sure to tell.  


End file.
